Attachment for bank-ledgers.



PATENTED MAR. 29, 1904.

A. STONEHOUSE. ATTACHMENT FOR BANK LEDGBRS.

APPLICATION TILED MAR. 17, 1903.

H0 MODEL.

/3 War/rays UNITED STATES PATENT Grsics.

ANTHONY STONEH OUSE, OF LARIMORE, NORTH DAKOTA.

ATTACHMENT FOR BANK-LEDGERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,721, dated March29, 1904:. Application filed a c l7, 1903. $eria1 No. 148,162. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTHONY STONEHOUSE, of Larimore, Grand Forks county,North Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAttachments for Bank-Ledgers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices designed for use in connection withbank-ledgers to facili. tate making the entries therein; and the objectchecks are received at the bank.

balances are provided.

week are entered above that line.

of the invention is to provide means whereby the bookkeepercan easilyand accurately de. termine the proper place to make an entry to thedebit or credit of each depositor on either the right or left hand pageof the ledger without the necessity of following along the line acrossthe pages from the depositors name on the edge of the left-hand pageeach time an entry is made.

A further object is to provide means to facilitatc the carrying forwardof the weekly balances.

The invention comprises a bank-ledger attachment, as hereinafterdescribed, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

2 5 In the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification,Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bank-ledger, showing my inventionapplied thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the ends of theattachment, the middle portion thereof being broken away.

In the drawings, 2 represents the left-hand uncut leaf of abank-ledger,having on its outer margin a series of spaces 3, wherein the names ofthe depositors are written. I

3 5 4: represents a series of leaves following the leaf 2 and havingtheir left-hand margins cut away to expose the names in the blanks 3.This is for the convenience of the bookkeeper and avoids the necessityof entering the de- 4 positors name on each page as his account iscarried forward and greatly facilitates the work of the bookkeeperin'carrying forward the balances from one Week to another. The pages aredivided vertically into sections 5,

there being one section for each day ofthe week, the deposits, checks,and the total checks drawn being entered up against each depositors namewithin the section that is appropriated for the day on which thedeposits or the entries have been properly made.

having, preferably, a series of cross-lines device is placed thereon.

Patented arch 29, 1904.

Between these sections columns for credit and debit For each depositorsname a horizontal line is carried across the page on both the leftand'right hand leaves of the ledger, and all the checks, deposits, andbalances for that depositors account for the In making the entries inthe first one or two sections the bookkeeper will have but littledifficulty in placing the figures in the proper horizontal column; buttoward the last of the week the entries are made on the right-hand leaf,and it is necessary for the bookkeeper to follow along each'horizontalline from the depositors name in making an entry to that depositorsaccount to make sure that the entry is properly made. It is evident thatif checks be charged to a customer that should have been put on some oneelses account very serious results may follow, and the bookkeeperfrequently wastes considerable valuable time in following along thelines across thepage from the depositors names to make sure that avoidall these difficulties attendant with the use of the ordinarybank-ledger and to enable the bookkeeper to make his entries withcertainty and dispatch, I provide a plate 6,

thereon, that are adapted to register with the horizontal lines on theledger-page when the Upon these lines 7 I write the names of thedepositors corresponding to those at the ends of the horizontal lines onthe ledger at the edge of the lefthand page. When, therefore, thebookkeeper desires to make an entry at some little distance from thedepositors name on the page, he will move the plate 6 until it isopposite the point where he desires to make the entry, and the positionof the depositors name on the plate will enable the bookkeeper toreadily determine in which horizontal column to make the entry. Theplate may be made of any suitable material, such as paper, which Iprefer on account of its cheapness and flexibility, and to aid thebookkeeper in holding the plate in position on the page I prefer toprovide a plate with turned-in edges 8, that are adapted to pass aroundthe upper and lower edges of the leaf and prevent the plate frombecoming displaced thereon.

When the device is made of paper, the ends 8 can be readily foldedaround the edges of the leaf, care being taken to make the crosslines 7register with the horizontal lines on the page.

I prefer to provide the plate 6, near one edge, with a series ofvertically-arranged unitlines, forming spaces 9, wherein the credit ordebit balance, as the case may be, of each depositor may be entered bythe bookkeeper on the last day of the week, and then the plate forwardto the left-hand page of the succeeding week the balances can be easilyand quickly transferred to the section appropriated for Monday of thatweek without the necessity of turning the leaves to examine the balancesfor the preceding week. The balances placed upon the plate 6 may bearranged under one another, and a debit balance may be distinguishedfrom the credit balance by a minus-sign placed before the figures inunitcolumns, or, if preferred, debit and credit columns may be providedupon the plate. It will be readily understood that with all the balancesfor the preceding week upon the strip before him and close to the columnto which they are to be transferred the bookkeeper can very readily makesuch transfer in a short space of time and with very little chance oferror. The bookkeeper will enter the balances in pencil on the movableslip of paper, so that the same strip can be used successively, thebalances for the preceding Week being rubbed out when it is desired toenter in the blank spaces the balances of the current week to be carriedforward.

by moving I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with a bank-ledgerleaf, having the depositors names written at the left-hand end of thepage, and horizontal lines leading from said names across the page, of aflexible plate arranged thereon and movable crosswise of the page, saidplate bearing the names of the depositors opposite and corresponding tothose written on said leaf at its left-hand edge and having a series ofappropriately-designated blank spaces wherein the balances at the end ofthe week are entered, for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, with abank-ledger leaf having a series of horizontalrulings and provided With appropriately-designated blank spaces at itsleft-hand edge to receive the names of depositors written therein, of aseries of shorter leaves following said firstnamed leaf and havinghorizontal rulings arranged to register with the rulings of saidfirst-named leaf, said leaves being divided by vertical lines intosections appropriately designated for each day of the week, and a stripof paper having its edges bent around the edges of a leaf and slidablethereon and having blanks to receive names corresponding to the names ofthe depositors on said first-named leaf and opposite the samerespectively, and said strip also having appropriately-designated blankspaces to receive the balances at the end of the week, substantially asdescribed.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of March,1903.

ANTHONY STONEHOUSE.

In presence of-- G. W. SWINGEL, ARTHUR LORD.

